Tundra birds

We saw many tundra birds and many ver and over.  We were in and out of the vans all day long.  Many of the birds we saw in the tundra landscape were birds not necessarily expected.  The photos below represent some of the expected.  

  

Long-tailed Skua (Jaeger) (Stercorarius longicaudus).  We say many times here and elsewhere.  We also saw Arctic Skua (Parasitic) (Stercorarius parasiticus) here and in a variety of other habitats.

Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis). 

We saw many Long-tailed Ducks, often in larger numbers, and I was hoping to hear them as described by Barry Lopez in his book Arctic Dreams*.  He wrote: " ... the haunting sound of oldsquaw in the ice, ahaalik, ahaalik ... " (page 404).   I remember reading this and going immediately to Merlin to see if this sound was in that app.  It was, and accurately described by Barry Lopez.  We discussed the duck's pejorative name oldsquaw and I was able to offer the eskimo origins for this name that I learned when reading Arctic Dreams.    

Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca)

Above and below:  Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus)

Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii)

Reindeer way out on the tundra.

Above and eight below:  Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) for a good look.

Whooper Swans (Cygnus Cygnus).  There were five in this spot.

Whooper Swans were seen daily.  Curiously, even though it is a European bird, we saw only two Mute Swans (C. olor) on the whole trip.  This certainly would not be the case here; crazy to think how many we have now.

*Arctic Dreama, Copyright © 1986 Barry Holstun Lopez.  First Vintage Books Edition, October 2001.